I write about Stuff

“Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” —John 21:25

Introduction to the Gospel of John — New Year’s Day, 2026

Happy New Year! As we step into 2026 together—with all its unknowns, its hopes, its challenges, and its possibilities—we’re beginning a journey through one of the most beautiful and profound books in all of Scripture: the Gospel of John. It feels fitting to start a new year by returning to the One who makes all things new.

John’s Gospel is unlike the others. It’s deeply personal, almost contemplative, written by someone who didn’t just follow Jesus from a distance but lived right beside Him. John was one of Jesus’ closest friends, and he never gets over that miracle. He even refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—not out of arrogance, but out of sheer wonder that Jesus’ love had reached him, shaped him, and claimed him.

And John wasn’t anyone special by worldly standards. He wasn’t a scholar, a priest, or a man of influence. He wasn’t part of the religious establishment. He was a fisherman—a man who smelled of salt and sweat, who worked with his hands, who knew the ache of long nights and empty nets. He was ordinary. And yet Jesus chose him.

But John wasn’t just ordinary—he was fiery. Impulsive. Ambitious. A bit of a hothead, if we’re honest. He once tried to stop someone from casting out demons simply because the man wasn’t part of their group. He and his brother James angled for positions of honour in Jesus’ kingdom. And when a Samaritan village refused hospitality, John’s solution was… well… to call down heavenly fire and wipe them out. No wonder Jesus nicknamed the brothers “sons of thunder.”

And still—Jesus wanted him. Jesus called him. Jesus trusted him.

For three years, John had a front-row seat to the most extraordinary life the world has ever known. He heard Jesus teach with authority and tenderness. He watched miracles unfold in dusty streets and crowded homes. He saw Jesus welcome the broken, challenge the powerful, and comfort the grieving. He saw the sparkle in Jesus’ eyes, the compassion in His voice, the strength in His silence.

John saw Jesus—really saw Him. And because he saw, he believed.

That’s why he wrote this Gospel: so that we might see and believe too.

After Jesus ascended, John didn’t fade quietly into the background. He preached boldly. He helped establish the early church in Jerusalem. He shepherded believers, encouraged the weary, and stood firm under persecution. Tradition tells us he was the only disciple who wasn’t martyred—not because he was spared suffering, but because God had more for him to write, more for him to witness, more for him to pass on.

By the time John wrote his Gospel—likely around AD 90—he was an old man. The last surviving member of Jesus’ inner circle. The last living eyewitness. The last heartbeat of that first generation who had walked with the Messiah in the flesh. Sixty years had passed, yet the memories were still vivid, still alive, still burning in him.

John had also lived long enough to see the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem—a devastating moment for the Jewish people. Their centre of worship was gone. Their rhythms of sacrifice and festival were disrupted. Their spiritual identity felt shaken.

Into that ache, John wrote a Gospel that pointed not to a building, but to a Person. He showed how Jesus Himself fulfilled everything the temple represented—sacrifice, forgiveness, presence, glory, hope. Jesus was, and is, the true centre of worship.

John doesn’t tiptoe around the call to believe. He writes with urgency, clarity, and love. And at the heart of his message is a verse many of us learned as children, yet still carries the weight of eternity:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT)

For this season, as we walk through John’s Gospel together, my prayer is simple: that we would see Jesus more clearly, trust Him more deeply, and love Him more wholeheartedly. Because seeing Him—truly seeing Him—changes everything.